Health Care Operations Management

OM4089-001 Spring 2015

Meetings: Thursdays, 6:00 8:50 PM, 223 Lindner Hall
WWW: http://blackboard.uc.edu

Professor: Dr. Denise White

Office: Kasota Building, 3rd Flr. (CCHMC)
Email: denisel.white@cchmc.org
Phone: 636-7203
Office Hours: By appointment only

Description: This course will focus on the many managerial challenges posed by operations in the
healthcare industry. Simultaneously improving quality and safety while reducing costs is not only
important to individual care organizations, it has become a national priority as well. This course will
focus on operational and organizational drivers of quality, efficiency, and excellent patient experiences.
We will examine the roles of people, systems, and technology and discuss topics such as scheduling,
matching capacity and demand, and performance measurement. This course will involve some group
work, and should be helpful to those considering a career in the healthcare or related industry.

Grade components: Grading scale:

Class participation and attendance (10%) A = 90-100
Homework (15%) B = 80-89
Case studies (15% each) C = 70-79
Final Group Project (30%) D = 60-69
F = 59 and below
(may be adjusted at course end)

Course Materials:
Required: Case Studies 1) Paediatric Orthopaedic Clinic at the Childrens Hosptial of Western Ontario
and 2) West Coast University Student Health Services: Primary Care Case studies can be purchased from
study.net. The course link is http://www.study.net/r_mat.asp?crs_id=30059261

Class Attendance and Participation

Attendance, in-class contributions, and discussion on the course material will all be viewed as support for
fulfillment of this grade component. We may use Blackboard as a forum for discussion; if so,
participation there will be considered part of this grade component.

Group Projects
Nine teams of 3 students each will research and propose solutions for significant operational problems
facing the healthcare industry. Teams will either select a problem topic from the list provided (by week
3) or propose a problem topic; all topics must be chosen and approved by the course instructor by the
6th week of the course (by 2/19). Teams shall extensively research the problem topic in order to present
a clear background and summary of the scope and drivers. Then, teams shall develop and detail a plan
to address the problem. No more than 2 teams may focus on the same problem. In the 11th week of the
course, teams will present 3-4-minute overviews of their problems. In the final weeks of the course,
teams will give 25-minute presentations on their projects. A hardcopy of the PowerPoint slides will serve
as the written report.
Case Studies
Three teams will present an in-depth analysis of each of the three case studies. Each teams
presentation is to be 13-15 minutes long and in a professional format. A hardcopy of the teams slides
are to be provided to the instructor at the beginning of the presentation. Any group not proactively
providing the instructor a copy of their slides prior to the presentation will receive an automatic 10 point
deduction from the case study grade. Students not scheduled to present the case study will hand in a 1-
page write-up of their analysis of the case study. Typed answers of no more than one single-spaced
page are to be handed in at the start of the class session covering the case study. Professionalism and
grammar/writing are considered in the grading. While discussion of the cases with classmates is
recommended, the weekly analyses that are handed in are individual assignments. Students names
should only go on the back of the analysis write-up not on the front.

Policies:
1. Coming to every class is important and absenteeism affects your class participation score. Please let
me know in advance if you plan to miss a class. If you do miss a class, it is your responsibility to find
out from classmates what material was covered and what additional assignments, if any, were
made. Please use the syllabus and online resources!
2. Some assignments will be done as a team and must be worked on outside of class. If you cannot
meet with your team outside of class, you should not take this course.
3. There will be no make-up dates for any team presentations.
SCHEDULE
Session Topic Readings (read prior to class)
1) 1/15 Overview of the (US) health-care industry WHO, Key components of a well-functioning
Dice Game health system Bb
IOM, Crossing the Quality Chasm Executive
Summary Bb (for reference only not required reading)
2) 1/22 6 P's of Healthcare Operations Gawande, Cost Conundrum Bb
The Role of People in Healthcare Heskett, Service Process Chain - Bb
Operations
Class exercise for 6 Ps
3) 1/29 Hospital Operations Mango & Shaprio,"Hospitals Get Serious
Hospital Flow Activity about Operations" Bb
In Class Define Process Bohmer, Medicines Service Challenge - Bb
Homework Problems and HOMEWORK #1 Assigned
Measures

4) 2/5 Quality and Safety Weed, Factory Efficiency Came to the

Review Homework #1 Hospital Bb
HOMEWORK #1 Due
HOMEWORK #2 Assigned
5) 2/12 Case Study 1 Pediatrics Orthopaedic Group Project Topics Due Via Email
Clinic of Northern Ontario
Tools, Methods, & Metrics 1
6) 2/19 Tools, Methods, & Metrics 2 HOMEWORK #2 Due
Review Homework #2
In Class Exercise
7) 2/26 Capacity & Scheduling - 1 Hall, Patient Flow Bb
Murray & Berwick Advanced Access
8) 3/5 Capacity & Scheduling - 2 HOMEWORK #3 Assigned
In Class Exercise
9) 3/12 Case Study 2 West Coast University
Student Health Services Primary Care
Clinic
Supply Chain Management
10) 3/19 NO CLASS - Spring Break
11) 3/26 Short Presentation of Group Topics HOMEWORK #3 Due
Review Homework #3
In-Class Exercise
12) 4/2 No Class Group time to work on final
project
13) 4/9 Case Study 3 Pediatric Specialty Service Maister, The Psychology of Queuing Bb
Area Restriction
Managing the Patient Experience
14) 4/16 The Hospital of the Future
Healthcare Process
15) 4/23 Final Project Presentations
16) 4/30 Final Project Presentations (Finals Week)